


Drops of Sunshine

by lureavi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Compliant, Feels, Light Angst, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Shiro platonically calls Matt Sunshine and you can pry that out of my cold dead robo-hand, Will probably have a sequel after season 7, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-16 22:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lureavi/pseuds/lureavi
Summary: A look at the "progression" of Shiro and Matt's relationship we don't see.A.K.A. snippets of pining and unrequited feelings, until it's too late.





	Drops of Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I started this like weeks ago and then scrapped 90% of it when I found out about Adam. Now it's much more heartbreaking and I'm personally hating myself for it but like damn man, it fits in the canon verse as well as I could make it.  
> I know this fic has been done at least 5 times by now, but here's my take on it!

“Dad, no, I don’t want to meet him,” Matt whispered through clenched teeth, trying to still his feet as he’s half-dragged through the halls.

“You’re meeting him,” Sam insisted, “he’s rather eager to meet you, too! You’re only a little younger than him, you know. I’ve told him all about you!”

“What?! What have you told him?” He shrieked, blanching at the thought, “Dad, please, I’m gonna McFreakin lose it.”

“I’m not your sister, don’t talk to me with your internet slang,” Sam chided, “and don’t talk to him with it either!” He pulled Matt to a halt outside the officer’s lounge, then turned to straighten his son’s uniform.

Matt let his head fall back with an exasperated sigh. No matter how much either of them fussed with the ugly orange material, it wasn’t going to look good. “Dad. Dad I’m gonna die. I have a poster of this guy in my room,” fear flashed through his eyes, “you didn’t tell him that, did you?”

“Nope, left that part out, definitely!” Sam answered, too fast.

“Dad you _didn’t,_ ” his father’s guilty silence was answer enough, and Matt felt his face grow so warm, he thought his glasses might fog. “I’m gonna throw myself down a trash compactor,” he groaned as the lounge door creaked open.

“Ah, hello, please don’t do that,” a deep voice said, and Matt nearly dropped to the floor.

Its _him._

Its Takashi Shirogane.

Sam gripped onto his son’s shoulders, attempting to steady him, “Shiro! There you are. Meet my son, Matthew! Today is his first day here.”

“Oh my god you’re _real_ ,” Matt breathed, unable to tear his eyes away. He barely noticed his father’s quiet chastisement, too focused on what had to be the most attractive man on Earth.

Shiro chuckled, bringing a hand to the back of his neck, “didn’t think I was just a poster, did you?” He extended a hand out towards an awestruck Matt, smiling shyly, “it’s nice to meet you, really, I’ve heard great things.”

Great things? Matt’s heart fluttered, sirens blaring in his mind instead of words as he shook Shiro’s much larger hand, “exactly what kind of things…?” He asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

“I’ve heard you’re a genius, and a real ray of sunshine. Do you go by Matthew? Or would you rather me call you something else?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Matt’s liquefying brain was slow to process the question, stuck on the sentence preceding it. “Sunshine?” He repeated, feeling the redness creep up his features as the rest of his mind caught up, “oh, no, sorry, I go by Matt. You can call me Matt, sir.” He’s relieved he didn’t fumble the words too badly.

“Too late,” Shiro shrugs, a bright smile lighting his face, “your name is Sunshine now. And please, if it’s just us, you don’t have to call me sir.”

Matt nodded with a wordless giggle, much higher than his normal pitch to his embarrassment. His heart jack hammered in his chest as he was unable to look away from the captivating charcoal eyes above him. He startled as his father’s arm wound over his shoulder.

“I'm sure you two will be fast friends,” Sam exclaimed, “you have plenty in common!”

Friends, with Shirogane? Matt doubted it. Not when he was so smitten at first sight.

* * *

 

Matt’s head slammed down into his notebook with a dull thud, his pen dropping to the floor out of his weak grasp, “someone,” he croaked, “please put me out of my misery.” A large paper cup was placed down just aside his head, and he immediately latched to it with both ink-stained hands, “coffee, or poison?”

Shiro scooted a few open textbooks aside, and took a seat atop the wooden desk next to Matt’s hunched figure, “hot chocolate, with three shots of espresso, no whipped cream, extra sugar,” he rattled off the clearly well-rehearsed order, “so, I think it qualifies as both?”

“It’s only both if I die,” Matt grumbled, pushing off the desk with enough force to make it creek in attempt to sit up. He half-heartedly smoothed his ruffled hair, his face spotted with ink and visible bags beneath his eyes. He made a weak toasting motion with his cup before tilting his head back to gulp down as much as possible.

“Good morning to you too, Sunshine.” Shiro chirped. He took a sip of his own drink, a vibrantly colored iced tea, and looked over the notebook his friend’s head was previously shoved in. The pages were a little crinkled, and the writing smudged, but still legible. Or at least, as legible as a Holt’s writing ever could be.

Matt lowered his cup, snorting at the nickname. It was fitting when he was fully conscious, and not on the verge of an anxiety attack, but right then he may as well have been a storm cloud. “Good morning, sir,” he slurred with a half assed salute. He leaned his head forward, cradling it in one hand as his eyes clenched shut, “god, I’m so fucking tired. What time is it?”

“First of all, language,” Shiro tutted, but his smile took away any bite. “Secondly, why do you still call me sir? It's been years. We’re friends. And, uh,” he glanced down at his watch, “it’s half past seven.”

“Oh,” Matt breathed a sigh of relief, pushing up his glasses to rub at his eyes, “good, I have hours before I need to get to sleep.”

Shiro’s brows furrowed, “Matt. Seven in the _morning._ How long have you been awake?” He eyed the pyramid of empty Monster cans on the opposite edge of the desk, and suspected the answer wasn’t going to be good. This again?

Matt diverted his eyes, he knew he promised to get more sleep, but how could he? “What day is it,” he yawned, jaw cracking loudly. He already knew the answer. Nine more days until the team selection for the Kerberos mission. Nine more days to prove himself. He had to make it on that team. He retrieved his pen, aiming to go back into the equation he had given up on moments ago, but the pen was snatched from his hands before it hit the paper.

“You want to play like this? Fine. Matthew Holt, go get some sleep,” Shiro demanded in a strict voice, making Matt jump, “Right now.”

“But, sir,” Matt scrambled to get his pen back, not at all wanting to leave his work just yet, “I-”

“That’s an order,” he said with the same commanding tone. He gathered Matt’s textbooks and notebooks into a neat pile, “and stop calling me sir, that’s an order too.”

Matt reluctantly hauled himself out of his wooden chair, groaning at the terrible crick in his neck, “Yes, sir,” he chanted out of habit. He scooped up the pile of books, dreading carrying the heap all the way from his father’s office to his dorm when a thought occurred to him. “Why are you here? With my drink?” He wondered aloud.

Shiro gently pushed Matt over to the door of the office, “I have a meeting with your father, about my Kerberos application. He said you’d be here, so I stopped and grabbed you some… _coffee_.” He said the last word uncertainly, not positive that it was the correct term for the concoction.

“You, you’re applying?” Matt stumbled over his feet, bracing himself against the door as the other tried to push him out, “but, your wedding!” It made no sense to him. He knew all too well that Shiro’s wedding was a year from now, and the members of the Kerberos mission would be far into space by then. If Matt was being honest, it was part of the reason he wanted to go. To be as far from Earth as possible when Shiro would marry someone else. If no one can hear you scream in space, no one could hear your heart break either, he figured.

Shiro’s expression faltered, the corners of his lips twitching down as his eyes looked anywhere but Matt’s, “I know, but, I can’t let this opportunity go by, it’s…” he paused, shaking his head, “go to sleep, Matt.”

With a heaving sigh, Matt trudged the rest of the way out of the office. He stopped, sticking his foot in the door as Shiro tried to close it. What should he say? Clearly something was wrong. He cared too much to just leave it. His mind ran through several different options before settling on a winner. “I know we’re not really close. But, we’re… friends, you just said so. You even know my weird coffee order. You can talk to me, if you want to,” he whispered, unable to make eye contact with most of the door in the way. Not that it mattered when he was staring at his shoe.

Shiro’s shoulders slumped, fingers fidgeting with the door knob. After an awkward silence, he let out the breath he wasn't aware he was holding, “Not now. But...thanks, Sunshine”

Matt took his foot away, and the door clicked shut. He stared longingly, wishing he had said more. Although, with how little sleep he was running on, perhaps it was best he didn’t.

Shiro applying for Kerberos… The possibilities clouded Matt’s mind, his entire trek back nothing but a haze of daydreams.

This could change everything, couldn't it?

* * *

 

Matt stood still, hand raised to knock on the windowless door before him. His hand clenched and unclenched, his weight shifting from foot to foot. Should he knock? He had to. He needed to talk to the man on the other side.

“Come on, Matt,” he murmured to himself, yet made no move to complete his task.

What should he say? Obviously the message he was sent to bring, but...

He knew about the breakup. The whole garrison had known for a week. Part of him was thrilled at the news. It was a part he hated, but a part of him nonetheless. The rest of him knew Shiro would be absolutely crushed.

He also knew what most of the garrison didn’t. This would be Shiro’s last mission.

Matt’s heart had been pulled in quite a few directions that week.

With a shaking breath, he closed his eyes, and brought his hand down to the door.

No response.

He rapped against the door again, louder. Nothing.

Maybe he wasn’t there? No, where else would he be during his office hours? Breakup or not, Shiro wasn't one to neglect responsibility.

He thought on it for a moment, it wouldn’t hurt to try the door, right?

Unlocked. Matt gulped, thinking it best to commit now that he already had the door cracked open. He pushed it enough to peak his head inside, “hello?”

Shiro was indeed in his office, at his desk with his head down. His shoulders rose and lowered slowly, the only sound in the room a light snoring. Papers were scattered across the desk beneath him, a few threatening to fall to the floor and several already there.

Matt’s chest ached. This wasn’t like Shiro at all. He padded over to the desk, gently closing the door behind him.

“Sir?” He asked softly. He never addressed him otherwise. It kept distance. It kept him from getting too close. He let out a small shriek, jumping back when the other man jolted awake.

Shiro snapped up straight, his hands coming down on his desk with a thud and further scattering his mess of paperwork. He softened, slumping back into his chair upon seeing who woke him, “oh, it’s just you,” he let out a deep sigh, running a hand through his disheveled hair, “I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

Matt’s heart sank into his stomach at the state of his senior officer. Shiro’s uniform was wrinkled, his hair a mess, and there were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and smudged liner. “Sir? Are you alright?” He managed to squeak out.

“I’m fine, Matt. I just... “ His voice trailed off, and he shook his head, “what did you need?”

Matt's mind ran blank. He opened his mouth, closing it when no sound came out. He stared down at his hands, absently wondering how long he’d been wringing them for, “I... “ Why _was_ he here? “Oh!” he exclaimed upon finally remembering, “my dad sent me. He wants us to do some team bonding stuff. But, if you’re not up to it-”

“No, I’m up for it. My office hours are over in-” he glanced to his wrist, finding his watch missing before turning to the clock, “-another hour. I can do it then. I’ll meet you both at his office.”

Matt nodded, but made no move to leave. _‘Say something, you idiot,’_ he thought to himself, but instead just stood still.

Shiro smiled, looking far more uncomfortable than authentic, “Is there something else I can-”

“Will you please talk to me?” Matt blurted out, unaware of where the words came from, but unable to stop them now that he had started, “I care about you, and I know about the breakup, I mean everyone knows, and you keep saying you’re okay to everyone and that you’re still going to Kerberos but clearly you’re not okay and you look like shit, and you’re always so neat and orderly but there’s papers everywhere and you’re sleeping at your desk and one of your eyeliner wings is _way_ bigger than the other but maybe it’s just smudged and-”

“Matt!” Shiro finally cut him off.

Matt squeaked out a quiet “Sir!” and saluted with a wobbling hand, knocking his glasses out of place as his freckled cheeks darkened. He probably said too much.

Shiro groaned in frustration, cradling his head in his hands.

They both stayed motionless, outside of Matt’s nervous tremble.

After what seemed like hours, Matt cleared his throat, “I’ll go now, sir-”

“No, stay. Sit down.” Shiro ordered, unmoving.

Matt scrambled into the closest chair, nearly knocking it over in his haste, “yes, sir!”

“Team bonding, right?” he asked with a wavering voice, “a while ago, you said that I could talk to you… If you stop calling me sir, I’ll talk.”

“Deal!” Matt nearly shouted, leaning forward in his chair far enough for the back legs to come up an inch, “so, Shiro, then?

“Please.”

“Shiro,” Matt repeated slowly, flushed to the tips of his ears with his glasses still crooked, “I’ll call you Shiro, sir. Oh, fuck, sorry…” He sank down into the chair, not at all prepared for an actual heart-to-heart with his crush.

A genuine smile found its way to Shiro's face. Small, but genuine. “I’ll let it slide this time.” His face fell again, “I don’t really know where to start with this...”

Matt stared at his hands in his lap, questions raced through his mind at light speed, but which of them would be okay to ask? Start small, he told himself, shifting in his chair. “I already know about your…” he struggled to find the words, “I know you’re sick.” Not the best way to put it.

Shiro nodded, chin rested atop his folded arms, staring at the paper ready to fall off the edge of his desk, “that’s why Adam doesn’t want me to go.”

Oh. That made sense, Matt realized. He cleared his throat, “so, uh, is that why he called off the engagement?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled, still refusing to make eye contact, “I… I love him. I really do, but I can’t just stay here. This is a once or twice in a lifetime mission, and I don’t have the time left to see if I’ll get a second chance.” His voice cracked near the end of his sentence, his eyes clenched shut as he hid his face in his arms. “But… how do I choose between the opportunity of a lifetime, and the love of my life?” He continued, almost too muffled to hear.

The light seemed to fade from Matt’s eyes, his heart broke to see Shiro like that. The man was strong, brave, unwavering. Yet there he was, nearly in tears.

He had seen Shiro and Adam together. They were fiercely competitive, yet supportive. They bickered like any couple, but never seemed to go more than a few moments without smiling at the other’s mere presence. They were happy together. In spite of everything...

Matt couldn't imagine what either one of them was going through, but he knew he could at least be there for Shiro. Even if it meant pushing his own feelings aside. He rose up from the chair, taking the few steps forward to the other’s desk. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he let it out, “there’s not a right answer, but,” he started.

Shiro looked up at him, staring into closed eyes as Matt continued,

“I think you should go to Kerberos. I think if you’re going to-” he clenches his fists, not wanting to say the words, “-if you’re going to die, then do it after you’ve done what no human ever has before. Adam is going to be here when we get back, and if he’s really the love of your life, if it's meant to be, you guys will work it out. You deserve to be happy… He would be an idiot to really leave you.” He peeked his eyes open, pools of honey meeting marbled steel as they stared wordlessly at each other.

Finally, Shiro broke the silence, “do you really think so?”

Matt nodded, the motion like knives in his chest, “yeah… I do.” He wanted to say more. Say that someone who really loved him wouldn’t hold him back from his dreams, that he should try to move on. Say that _he_ wouldn't hold Shiro back, that _he_ was in love with him, and would support him where Adam wouldn’t. But, he knew it wouldn’t help. He kept it to himself.

Shiro’s breath shook as he exhaled, “thank you. That… That helps.” He looked around the room, frowning at the state of it, “I’m a mess, aren’t I?”

“You think this is bad?” Matt picked a few papers off the floor, getting to work on organizing them, “you should see my desk. Sometimes, I’m not even sure its a desk, just a heap of papers and textbooks, suspended by pillars of energy drinks.” He gave Shiro a lopsided smile, hoping that he could get some sort of positive reaction.

Shiro smiled back weakly, with a light chuckle, “why doesn’t that surprise me?” He accepted the neat pile of papers Matt handed to him, “thanks again, Sunshine.” Matt’s smile tugged at his heartstrings, an overwhelming emptiness sweeping over him as he stared at those mismatched dimples, crooked glasses and messy brown hair.

Had his friend always been so similar to Adam?

* * *

 

_“Maybe you should try to move on.”_

The words rang through Shiro's mind on a loop, toneless, voiceless, but there nonetheless.

He had heard it too many times now. From too many people. Almost everyone who remained close to him had said it.

Almost everyone.

He looked up, lost in thought as he stared into a cloudless night of stars.

“We’re going to be closer to them than anyone’s ever been before,” he marveled, breaking the silence that had hung thick in the air, “two more days, and we’re on our way.”

Matt sat next to him, legs dangling off the edge of a rocky cliff, “what was it like? When you were up there before?” he asked, words barely a whisper, yet loud and clear in the breezeless air.

“Its…” Shiro struggled to find the words, “it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s terrifying, and exhilarating,” he takes his eyes away from the sky to look at Matt, whose eyes were still firmly fixed upwards, “when you look back and see the world, your entire world that’s always seemed so impossibly massive look no bigger than a marble, you feel small. So small, that every problem you have just seems to feel insignificant.” At least, that’s how it had been before. Would It be the same this time?

Maybe they were all right, that he should move on.

Yet here he was, with the person he now trusted most, the only one who encouraged him to keep up his hope for Adam.

Matt let himself fall back on the ground, head tilted towards Shiro, “every problem? I sure fucking hope so,” he laughs, but there wasn’t any humor in it. He had no idea how he was going to manage the journey, alone with his father and Shiro.

They had grown close. Too close for Matt’s heart to take.

Things had been easier when he could pretend it was just a distant crush, pretend nothing would come of it, but now? Now there he was, alone with Shiro, stargazing in the middle of nowhere. Just them, for miles. It wouldn’t be a stretch to confess right now, to pour his heart out.

But, he couldn’t. He knew Shiro was in love with someone else.

Shiro laid down beside him, their noses just inches apart, “you say that like you’re running from something.”

Matt felt the heat of the words on his lips. His flush was mostly concealed by the dark, but he suspected it would be clear in such close proximity, “like you aren’t?”

“No, I don’t think I am,” Shiro breathed, focused on the face so close to his. For weeks and weeks, he had looked at that face and saw Adam. Every freckled grin, every laugh, every time he fixed his skewed glasses, he had seen Adam. When did that change? Since when did he only see Matt? As if he were a fool to miss it before. Maybe Matt was wrong, and everyone else was right. Maybe it was time. “I think I’m ready to start moving on,” he admitted, convincing himself as he said it.

“Oh,” Matt squeaked out, quickly directing his face back up to the sky, “that’s… I didn’t think you wanted to.”

“Neither did I, but,” he felt his heart flutter in his chest, like it hadn't in a long time, “I guess things change,” he said softly.

Matt’s breath hitched in his throat, hyper aware of the nonexistent distance between them, the fabric of their jackets brushing as he sat back up, “you know, we should get back soon…” He mumbled, pulling his jacket closed, “it’s getting late.”

Shiro’s lips turned down. That wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. Reluctantly, he got to his feet, offering his hand to help up Matt, “yeah, you’re probably right.”

Matt accepted the hand, but let go the second he was steady on his feet, not allowing himself to linger.

He couldn’t just say nothing. As they walked back to the hoverbike in silence, Matt steeled his nerves.

“I’m proud of you,” he finally said, with the slightest waver to his voice, “for moving on. You deserve to be happy.”

Shiro smiled, nudging his elbow into Matt’s ribs as they walked, “thanks, Sunshine.”

* * *

 

“Matt,” Shiro gently shook the sleeping man, his voice a tad louder than a whisper, “Matt, you gotta wake up. Rise and shine, Sunshine!”

Matt jolted awake, whirling around with his eyes wide in fear, “oh god, oh fuck, what's wrong?!”

“Nothing is wrong, come on!” Shiro urged, tugging on the other’s sleeve, “you have to see this.”

With a high pitched whine, Matt rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He groped around for his glasses before remembering, oh, right, he didn’t have them anymore, “I’m never gonna remember that I can see now,” he mused, finally getting out of his bunk, “what time is it?”

“Doesn’t matter, this is important!” Shiro took off towards the doorway, beckoning Matt to follow, “come on!”

Admittedly frustrated, Matt followed, “you better have found aliens, I can’t believe you’re interrupting my beauty sleep.” His heart skipped a beat when Shiro grabbed his hand.

“No, no aliens. Just look.” He pulled Matt into the cockpit, shoving him into the co-pilot’s chair.

Matt looked out the front of the ship, and as breathtaking as the vastness of space always was, he couldn't see anything special worth waking him up for. “I don’t understand,” he said with furrowed brows, “what are you showing me?”

Shiro grinned from ear to ear, his eyes brighter than any star they could see, “Matt, every inch we go, we’re breaking our own record. Doing the impossible,” he squeezed the other’s hand, having yet to let it go, “we’re further from Earth than anyone has ever been. We did it.”

“Oh,” Matt breathed, sinking into his chair. He hadn’t realized they were that far. “We really… wow,” he laughed, the shock washing over him. He got goosebumps beneath his uniform, finally connecting the dots of the history they’ve just made, “that’s… It’s unbelievable.”

“Now are you glad I woke you up?” Shiro teased, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Months ago, things would have been different. Now? There was no one else he would rather share this with. The painful sting of Adam was still there, still fresh, but in moments like these it was easier to bear. It was easier to imagine a different life than he first planned.

Matt nodded, unable to look away from the endless void before him, unable to will himself to let go of Shiro’s hand. He would let himself have this, one perfect moment with the man he loved, even if his mind screamed it wouldn't ever be reciprocated.

They watched in comfortable silence, until Matt drifted back to sleep, hand still intertwined with Shiro’s.

* * *

 

Matt hugged his legs to his chest with trembling arms, his words gasped between ragged sobs, “They took him… They took him away, Shiro. What are they going to do with him?!”

Shiro pulled the shaking heap of his friend close, resting his chin on a greasy mop of hair, “shh…” he gently hushed him, running his hands up and down freezing cold arms, “shh, Matt, Sunshine, you have to breathe.”

“What are they gonna do with us?” He choked out, quickly overtaken with tears again.

He had lost track of how many days they had been in a cramped cell. His father was gone. Their ship was gone. Any chance they had of getting home, any ounce of hope, was gone.

Matt gripped tightly to Shiro, crying into the dark fabric barely covering the man’s shoulders. Shiro was it, all he had left.

He didn’t doubt for a second that they were going to die.

He had held it together, he had stayed in an empty state of shock until now. Now, the floodgates had opened. He broke.

He began hyperventilating, unable to calm himself amidst everything crashing down. He tried to speak, to say anything, but nothing but broken cries would come out.

Shiro clenched his eyes shut, a few tears running down his cheeks, “come on, be strong Matt. I know you’re scared. I'm scared too,” he whispered, pressing his face to the side of Matt’s, “just listen to me, okay? I’m here. Come back to me, Sunshine.”

Matt shook his head, barely hearing the words over the panic in his own mind.

“No, you’re okay. You hear me? I’ve got you, and I won’t let them hurt you. Listen to me, Sunshine. Just listen to me,” Shiro kept on, desperate to soothe him, but Matt was inconsolable. His heart fell into his stomach. He wouldn’t lose him. Couldn’t. He squeezed Matt a little tighter, “what if I sing to you, yeah? I can sing. Come on, Sunshine, give me a song,” he said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

He shook Matt lightly. His crying had grown weaker, but he didn’t say a word.

“Okay, that’s okay, I’ll pick.” Shiro ran his fingers through Matt’s hair, keeping him tightly against his chest. He lightly cleared his throat, and paused for a moment to even his breathing, “Listen to me, okay?” he begged in a hushed whisper, before singing low and soft,

_“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,”_

Matt’s fingers dug into the thin material of Shiro’s jumpsuit, fighting to get as close as possible.

_“You make me happy, when skies are gray,"_

His tears died down, but his breathing remained brokenly shallow, his shaking not subsiding any.

_“You’ll never know, dear, how much I-”_

The emotion caught thickly in Shiro’s throat. In the fraction of a moment he took to regain his breath, he cursed everything.

He cursed his disease, ripping away any chance he had at a normal life.

He cursed himself, for realizing too late that he could have a second chance at being happy.

He cursed this prison. He cursed the Galra. He cursed life for dangling love at his fingertips, then shattering it just out of his reach, leaving him with the broken fragments of what could have been.

_“How much I love you,”_

He meant it. He nearly choked on the words, but he sang them anyways, his lips just a breath away from Matt’s ear.

_“Please don’t take my Sunshine away.”_

Shiro quieted. He listened to Matt’s labored breathing, and gently rubbed his still trembling back.

It seemed like ages until Matt calmed down, his breathing returning to normal, his shivers from the cold rather than jagged cries.

“You’re everything I have left, Matt,” Shiro whispered to him, “don’t give up on me.”

Matt nodded wordlessly, keeping his bloodshot eyes trained to the floor.

They stayed in silence, until the guards came for them.

Shiro didn’t hesitate. He knew what had to be done. He knew his own time was short, but Matt’s wasn’t.

He would do anything to protect him, even if it meant hurting him.

In the seconds Shiro had left, pinning Matt to the ground, he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t tell him now, there wasn’t time to say all he really felt.

“Take care of your father,” he whispered.

The fear in Matt’s eyes nauseated him.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly like most of the reason I wrote this was to rationalize Matt calling Shiro "sir" during their reunion, and the rest to make myself cry over Shiro singing to Matt in Galra prison. I'd REALLY love to make a sequel to this, but I'd like to wait for season 7 to come out, and see what else we learn about the garrison days/if Shiro and Matt literally ever cross paths again in canon.  
> Thanks for reading!! I'm sorry it's so sad in comparison to my last Shatt fic. I did a total 180 on y'all.


End file.
